The Watcher

The young girl sat on the bed, a subtle smile on her face, and said with a hint of mockery, "Sir, you haven't had a lover yet, have you? How could that be? It's surprising. I never expected you to be so chaste."

Bai Mo frowned, looking at the girl in front of her. This look made her uneasy. What did it mean? Why was she looking at her with such pity? She hadn't looked at him like that at all.

Do you know what you're doing?

"To help you exorcise demons? What else could it be?"

Bai Mo immediately felt a headache coming on. After all this time, it turned out that this Church wasn't a normal place. They'd been educating this girl in this way since she was little, to the point that her values were completely out of touch with reality.

"Are there still people like you in the Church?"

"What do you mean? I don't think anything else matters right now except for the ceremony."

Seeing this, Bai Mo was too lazy to argue with her. This was not something that could be resolved overnight, so he chose the most convenient and direct method. Bai Mo took out the "Metatron Award" and placed it in front of the girl.

"Please answer my question, nun."

Looking at the badge, which looked like something out of a street stall, the girl puffed up like a pufferfish.

"To use one's power to coerce a young girl, what a despicable person."

"You find this kind of thing disgusting, yet you think such an absurd ritual is perfectly acceptable? You have no right to say that to me."

Bai Mo looked at the girl in front of her who was inducing people to commit crimes. She sat up straight again and replied, "No, as you can see, I'm the only sinner in the Church now. Does exposing a girl's scars satisfy your sadistic psychology?"

Bai Mo put away the badge and sat down opposite her, saying, "What sins could a girl your age commit?" Sensing Bai Mo's relief, the girl was somewhat puzzled, but still answered cooperatively.

"My mother committed suicide."

"How pathetic, and then what?"

The girl became a little uneasy, sitting upright and saying, "What do you mean? Haven't I made myself clear enough? As the child of a sinner, I'm trying my best to atone for my sins, and then... what do you mean by 'then'?"

If an ordinary person treated her this way, she would probably ignore them. But the person before her was different; holding a sacred object, Bai Mo was undoubtedly close to the Lord in her eyes, and undeniably closer than herself.

From childhood, people in the Church have been reminding themselves of one fact.

Caren Aldesia carries more sins than the average person, and therefore must atone for them, even if she has done nothing wrong.

She could accept Bai Mo's rebuke, which she deserved as a sinner, but she couldn't accept Bai Mo's indifferent attitude, as if everything she had done was meaningless and futile.

"Suicide isn't a crime at all. It's just a pie in the sky that the Pope once painted for the faithful, so they could live and continue to be exploited. Besides, the system of collective punishment was abolished countless years ago."

Bai Mo stood up, ready to leave. He opened the door, and Fran, who had been eavesdropping through the door, fell straight down.

Caren frowned and rebuked in her childish voice, "How dare you say such things? Do you even deserve to be called the messenger of the Mahadeva Metatron?"

"First of all, I am not an envoy of Metatron. Secondly, if you had ever met Metatron, you would understand from the bottom of your heart that what I am saying is nothing compared to her."

Bai Mo nonchalantly stepped over Fran, Fran propped his head up with one hand and said, "So you're just going back like that? That's such a waste. This girl will definitely live like a prostitute for the rest of her life. Opportunities to legally do this to a minor are rare."

"So I'll go find that priest and get custody of the child. Luckily Kiritsugu's house is quite big."

"Wait a minute." Caren tried to call out to Bai Mo, but Bai Mo ignored her completely. It was pointless to waste words on a young girl with such a twisted worldview. Seeing herself being ignored, Caren's body trembled slightly.

For the first time since birth, she experienced the powerlessness in the face of authority. Facing Fran's mocking expression on the floor, Caren's bright, intelligent eyes welled up with tears. She immediately chased after Bai Mo and walked out, tripping over Fran along the way.

Once outside, the priest had already retrieved his legally binding document and handed it to Bai Mo.

She grabbed the threshold and looked at the two of them.

"You've arrived, Sister Caren. Your guardianship will now be transferred to Mr. Bai Mo's care, and I am truly happy for you. I hope you will continue on the path of atonement."

What "Path of Atonement"? This guy isn't a messenger of God at all. He must have used some kind of trick to get that badge. What a big liar.

Although Caren had a lot to say, her maturity beyond her years told her that it was pointless. Whether in the Church or in the secular world, she, a poor child without parents, was no match for Bai Mo.

"I have a request."

Just as the priest was about to reprimand Caren for saying this, Bai Mo spoke up first, "No problem, go ahead."

"I must stay by your side. As a nun, someone who needs to atone for my sins, I cannot be sent away to be fostered by someone else like an ordinary person."

Caren glanced at Fran, who had a subtle expression on his face behind her, as if she had made up her mind.

"You are being tempted and corrupted by that woman. If Mahadeva's messenger falls, it is an insult to the Lord. Therefore..." She strode up to Bai Mo and tried to grab Bai Mo collar, but she was too short to do so.

"I will keep an eye on you; it is my duty, and also the way I have chosen to atone for my sins."

The priest's eyebrows were furrowed into a deep frown, as if he were about to slap the little girl and make her realize her place. Who did she think she was? An envoy monitoring Metatron? After all his years of teaching her, how come he hadn't realized she was such an ignorant fool?

Just a second before the priest erupted, Bai Mo crouched down, bringing his line of sight to Caren's. This simple gesture gave Caren a sense of equality, and now she could grab Bai Mo's collar.

"Of course, that's fine. Rather, I'd be very grateful if you were willing to help me. Is it necessary to sign any written documents?"

After signing the documents, the three left the Church. During this time, Bai Mo received a baptism from the priests, so that the Beelzebub aura on him would not harm Caren.

"It should have been like this from the beginning," Bai Mo commented. The priest wiped away a cold sweat. Generally, when a person possessed by a demon is subjected to this level of baptism, shedding a layer of skin is the bare minimum. But Bai Mo suffered no harm whatsoever; not even a single hair was shed.

As expected of Metatron's appointed envoy.

Looking at Caren and Fran following behind him, he felt a headache coming on. "I think I came here for peace and quiet at first, but it feels like I'm drifting further and further away from my goal."

Why did you agree so readily?

Caren's timid voice came from behind her. She continued, "I've already prepared myself for a beating and a scolding, but you're making me look like a fool for having made that kind of mental preparation."

"Because he cares about me a lot, Miss Caren, you're so cute! I love seeing a pure nun like you degenerate into a pig-like woman, so I brought you along," Francesca blurted out, sniffing her prey like a wild beast, a gesture that frightened Caren.

But the next moment, Fran's smile froze, her head slowly slid off, fell to the ground, and rolled down like a football.

Thump, the headless corpse fell to the side of the road.

"Your questions will be answered by the rest of your life." Bai Mo lowered his raised hand, took Caren's hand, and in an instant, Cellular Regeneration repaired her body.

"The priest said that you should have equal love for all beings, but in my case, you must first learn to love yourself. Then, your problems will be solved."